Monday, September 21, 2009

It was a great five days of fun, that I wish was a bit longer. Apparently they have some cool events happening next weekend, like a soap box derby for grownups in downtown Los Angeles. Oh well, there's still fun when Firefly alumni visit SoCal just before Thanksgiving...and I have to use up my free ticket voucher from Southwest sometime.My pictures from the Emmy bleachers were better than I thought, but would have been perfect with an ideal picture from Christina Hendricks. I also wish I had snagged a seat filler gig, but I will try for that next year. You can see my Emmy photo album here.

As for other photos, here's that Fox promo ambulance letting people know about House...

Then there is this, the premiere of a romcom with Kristen Bell called When In Rome. Apparently she plays a girl who steals some coins from a "fountain of love", and suddenly three guys are trying to woo her...and yet Lee Pace is in the movie as the guy she doesn't want. Yes, I know...The issue isn't the movie, but how it's being premiered...

This is at a vacant theater at Melrose that's being rented out for one night, and the name of the movie is taped on a blank marquee. Now, I also hear they aren't giving this movie a wide release until January, but this should have been done better, like a silk-screened sign. Not only that, it was supposed to be shown last month. I guess The Ugly Truth and All About Steve scared them off.

So, my future travel plans include a Firefly weekend, where I will stay in a Travelodge just a few blocks away from the con (shades of the Wolfram and Hart Revue). After that, it depends on whether the Oscars pity me and let me on that bleacher, too, next March. Hmmm...700 seats, 145,911,256 entries. Well, maybe I'll get a better TV by then.

Saturday, September 19, 2009

It's Saturday morning, and I have to move to another hotel, because it was planned that way.Let's just say, it was a way for me to cut costs on my hotel bill. This won't be so bad. If the other hotel says I can drop off my luggage in the room I will be at, and I go on my merry way, that will work.

Friday was interesting. After Conan O'Brien's staff never got back to me about last night's taping, I caught the first taping of the new Catch 21 shows. Actually, it was very entertaining. Two of the shows were celebrity versions, an I'll just say cards were dealt and money was made. You'll know more once the new season starts in a few weeks. At least they got Applebee's as a sponsor, and weren't forced to put the logo on the cards or power chips. Also, I came across an odd ambulance at Hollywood and Highland. You'll see that later.

Friday night, I found a great $10 bargain.."Hammer Don't Hurt 'em improv, which inlcudes half of the Guild. The half with Jeff, Sandeep and Felicia, that is.This was the first improv show I've seen since The Groundlings five years ago, when I think I may have seen Kristen Wiig there. The Hammer group, though, was more free-wheeling. In about an hour, they riffed on the Great Gatsby, heathens, books, dragons, cream, home-schooling and certain male body parts. They also broadcast this show on the internet, but I don't know if they've decided to save this to allow people to see it later. There is a site on the US Stream website, at http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/1998842. If they add Friday's show, they should put an "explicit!" warning on it. It should also have a "damn funny!" warning, too. It also shows Sandeep's a pretty good MC.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Bonnie Hunt's show is as funny and engaging as ever.Poor, poor KCRA. What has it done?

The taping for 9/18 was a bit different than the usual routine, For one thing, the main guest, Dennis Quaid, wasn't there. Since he had to be in New York for two other shows, they did it last week. However, Bonnie decided to let the crowd see the interview before resuming with her own taping. The night before, Jimmy Kimmel ended his taping early because the musical guest, Pink had already done her concert a couple of days before. If only he had let us stay so we could see that, even if it's on tape.

The first "Mail From You Guys" segment didn't talk abut Sacramento, but that may happen someday. A lot of Catholic jokes were told, including one that I am convinced will never be shown. The other guests, Miranda Cosgove and Jeff from Big Brother 11, were good, too. Even got a new pair of Sketchers sneakers out of the deal. They'll mail a voucher for them, and hopefully remember my address. I'm still waiting for that book Carl Reiner promised to the audience way back in April. I am hoping his people hasn't lost the list. Just saying.

One thing that did disappoint me is that Bonnie's band has been cut to just Nick and his magic keyboard. He's still part of the show, but I preferred a full band. Hopefully after Bonnie reduces a few other politicians to frightened Jello, she'll get better ratings and have a full band again.

So, it's great to see Bonnie again, but I'd prefer to see her on my TV, instead of flying down to Culver City every week. I will go back, but I'd rather see the other guys first.

Like Conan and his new system of choosing potential audience members out of a hat. Despite the fact that I asked for a ticket in July, they never responded to me if I got a ticket to the taping on 9/18. I will try again, but it will be a while. Next up for me is Ellen Degeneres, because I can't believe she's sold out until Thanksgiving.

The upside is that I get to go to a game show taping, the first time in years. This time, it's Catch 21, and I'm at the first taping block. I'm not sure how many shows they're taping, but I suspect it may be a week's worth. If I somehow wind up competing, and even getting some bucks or swag, I'll be sure to thank Conan's lousy method of ticket distribution. Then, I'll go to an improv show called "Hammertime" because it includes two members of The Guild, or maybe three if I'm very lucky (and I mean Codex).

Saturday is free, and that means shopping and one visit to Pinks. Sunday is one word...Emmys

Some snarky guys think her interview with Rolling Stone was dumb.Well, when you're looking at this...

and this...

No one is noticing what Megan Fox says...except when she talks about how high school wasn't so great for her, and how cliques suck. That's cool.

These aren't as sharp as the professional shots, but considering I was about 50 feet away, and had to fight for space with 200 other people with cameras for this event Wednesday at Hollywood and Highland, this isn't so bad. Neither are these shots with Diablo Cody (who should renounce blonde-ness in my view) and Amanda Seyfried

As for actually going to see Jennifer's Body, I might eventually, even if Rotten Tomatoes isn't giving it the praise it should get. Oh, wait, this is a horror movie. Blood always offsets what the critics think. To be honest, I'm more interested in Whip It with Drew Barrymore and Ellen Page...and not because I met some Hurl Scouts at Comic-Con, either.

Anywho, today is Bonnie day, as I see her show for the last time in 2009, and maybe for keeps unless some Sacramento station decides to take her back. KCRA has tossed her aside for keeps, but it should have sent her to My58 quickly. We don't need two hours of Maury and Springer a day...or one hour, for that matter. It's also the first "Mail from you guys" segment for the new season. I would be surprised if she didn't mention the pile of mail she's gotten from Sacramento fans. I'll let them know I live there, and am prepared to apologize on behalf of the city. I am also worried I won't get to see Conan despite asking for a ticket to tomorrow's show two months ago. They prefer giving out tickets in a drawing rather than people who ask early. Well, if they let me know I can't see Courtney Cox in person, I still have this, which would also be considered the ideal solution to the housing slump.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Today is the first day The Bonnie Hunt Show has been off Sacramento TV. Her show lost the annual game of musical chairs that daytime talk shows play when there's a new show.

In this case, Dr. Oz is the new hot show, because he's the second spinoff from Oprah Winfrey's show. He's been taking Bonnie's time slots in several cities, including Sacramento. In nearly every case, she has found a new home. Guess where she hasn't?

If KCRA had hoped that no one would notice Bonnie is off the air, it was sadly mistaken. A lot of Sacramento fans went to the show's website to complain. A few others did do on the fan page. I knew about this about two weeks before anyone else only because I saw an ad for Dr. Oz, and what time it would be on. That's how I sent an e-mail to the station, asking if, at the very least, they'd ship Bonnie off to KQCA, My58. Well, they didn't. My58 is very happy showing two episodes each of Maury Povich and Jerry Springer...and repeats of Oprah and Dr. Oz after KCRA shows them. Thus, no room for Bonnie. Too bad.

Now, I am going to see a Bonnie Hunt taping next week, and I'll tell the warm-up guy where I live. I fully expect scorn and dirty looks from the guy. Hey, you have to blame someone.

I notice a few other people wondering where Bonnie went, not realizing she went to another station. You'd think the stations who will get Bonnie would promote it, even she's on the other station. Well, things should settle down by the end of the month, and things should be fine....almost everywhere.

Sunday, September 6, 2009

it's been a few months since I joined the Twitter Nation, making pithy one-lines to people famous and unknown alike. Robin Sachs, aka Ethan Rayne, actually tweeted me back. So did Amber Benson, although I can't tweet her back. I'd like to thank her for the praise.Ditto Miracle Laurie, who tweeted me when I asked if her ukulele band's list of cover songs included disco. Let's say it wouldn't be out of the question.

However, I have achieved a slice of fame thanks to two recent contests. One came from the Twitter feed from Inglorious Basterds. It asked to compete the phrase "I'm a basterd because...". Well, I remembered my blog that talked about being the first Americans to see the movie, thanks to Comic-Con. I said that "Christoph Waltz ain't a dance." Come to think of it, I should make it into a t-shirt around Oscar season. That should be worth a few hundred votes, while seeing the movie will produce a few thousand. Anyway, I was one of 50 people who got a modest prize pack of a t-shirt and soundtrack CD. The real fame came from actually having my entry featured in the winners list. It's still on the movie's Facebook page.

The other contest came from a site called Coin That Phrase. It asks people to come up with new catch phrases that may fit whatever situation comes to mind. I once described the Los Angeles wildfires this way. It cost only three bucks, too. I may try that for Dollhouse t-shirts.

Then they had one on catch phrases for the Emmys later this month. I came up with two: "Emmy for Best Alliteration, Don Draper and Liz Lemon (tie)". I though that would work since Tina Fey and Jon Hamm did appear on 30 Rock. Instead this one did: "Emmy-thing is possible, if you believe" I'm hoping the TV Academy may buy it from me, but only if the attendees think it's cool. Otherwise, the fact that I am part of this year's Emmy gift bag is a little piece of fame that I hope to promote somehow.

Despite this, it hasn't led to a massive number of people wanting to follow me on Twitter. If I wanted that, and didn't care who followed me, I'd beg every spambot to target me.

Still, it may be possible to be a celebrity blogger, such as Perez Hilton, but it's clear you can't be a celebrity Tweeter. Conan O'Brien has made sure of that. But so what? It's fun to do, and so is the blogging.